Shameless Playboy by Caitlin Crews Page A

million-dollar smile.”
                 “That
would hurt my feelings—” he began, fighting a smile.
                 “If
you had any,” she finished for him, and rolled her eyes. “I know full well that
you don’t.”
                 “If
I believed you,” he corrected her, his voice quiet but firm. He waited until
her gaze found his. “But we both know that you’ll say whatever it takes to
maintain this fiction of yours. That you do not want me. That you cannot feel
this thing between us, this pull. What would happen if you told the truth,
Grace? What then?”
                 The
party was loud around them, a swirling cloak of laughter and music and the
whirl of interchangeable faces, but Lucas hardly noticed any of it. There was
only this forgotten settee in a darkened corner of the expansive room. There
was only this woman. There was only this need.
                 “Oh,”
she breathed, not looking away, her eyes narrowing. “I didn’t understand. This
is still about your ego, isn’t it? I won’t fall at your feet and beg for your
attention, so there must be a grand conspiracy. There must be a detailed
explanation. Masks and fictions and reasons .”
                 “Not
at all,” he said, unable to keep the laughter from his voice, though it only
seemed to stoke the fire within him. “Only the truth.”
                 “Here’s
the truth, then,” she said, her voice dangerous, honey and fire. She shifted
closer, her need to slap at him and show him her power clearly overcoming any
common sense. He needed only to lean forward and he could taste her.
                 “I
am all ears,” he murmured, the laughter gone, every part of him focused on that
lush, full mouth so close to his.
                 Her
smile was like a razor, her voice like a whip. “If I were to make a list of all
the things that I hate in a man, every single characteristic you possess would
be on that list.”
                 “I
have no doubt,” he said, raising his gaze to catch hers. Holding them both
captive for a long, hot breath. “But that doesn’t change the fact you want me
inside of you. Right now. All night. Until you can’t stand the pleasure any
longer.”
                 He
saw her silent gasp as her breath fled her, saw the color flood her face, but
most of all he saw the heat in her deep brown eyes. The carnal wonder. The
need.
                 His,
he thought. She was his.
                 “Your
conceit is rivaled only by how deeply you are mistaken,” she managed to say,
but her voice was no more than a thread of sound, and her eyes were too wide.
                 “The
facts remain the same,” he taunted her softly.
                 “I
don’t want you,” she said, enunciating every word. But he could see how it cost
her, how she fought for control. “Is that clear enough for you? Is there any
room for error? You bore me.”
                 But
she didn’t move away. If anything, she angled her body closer.
                 He
looked at her for a long, shimmering moment. The music pounded. The crowd surged.
London sparkled and preened far below them, even as raindrops fell against the
high glass enclosure above.
                 But
all Lucas could see was Grace. Maddening, courageous, sharp-mouthed Grace. His .
                 Then,
never breaking eye contact, he reached over and gently pressed his fingers
against the delicate hollow of her neck. Where her skin was soft like satin and
hot to the touch.
                 Where
her pulse thumped out hard and then went wild beneath his hand.
                 “Liar,”
he whispered. Then he closed the distance between them and took her mouth with
his.
     

  CHAPTER SIX

 
                 MOST
first kisses were gentle, sweet. Lucas was neither.